Multiple ring looseleaf binder

ABSTRACT

A CONSOLE-MOUNTED LOOSELEAF RING BINDER ASSEMBLY HAVING A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTALLY ARRANGED BINDERS DISPOSED IN EVENLY SPACED PARALLEL ROWS IN CASE WITH EACH BINDER LOCATED AT INVIDIDUAL ONES OF A LIKE PLURALITY OF SEPARATE STEPPED-BACK POSITIONS OR LEVELS IN SUCH MANNER THAT THEIR LOOSELEAF SHEETS EXTEND THEREFROM IN SUBSTANTIALLY FLAT HORIZONTAL DISPOSITION.,

Nov. 9, 1971 w, no1-y ErAL MULTIPLE RING LOOSELEAF BINDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 20, 1969 r "11,111 .I Il l l' l, lla." l l;

/A/V'A/S GEORGE F. DRENEL ,8f WIND DOTY rmwfyf Nov. 9, 1971 w. Do'rY ETAL 3,618,241

MULTIPLE RING LOOSELEAF BINDER Filed Feb. 20, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 QEoRQE v. UREwEL y Wmo DOT'Y United States Patent O Hee 3,618,241 MULTIPLE RING LOOSELEAF BINDER Waid Doty, Haddoneld, NJ., and George F. Drewel, Springfield, Pa., assignors to Buchan Loose Leaf Records Company, Clifton Heights, Pa.

Filed Feb. 20, 1969, Ser. No. 801,013 Int. Cl. B42f 13/20 U.S. Cl. ll-104.14 6 Claims ABSTRACT 0F THE DISCLOSURE A console-mounted looseleaf ring binder assembly having a plurality of horizontal-ly arranged binders disposed in evenly spaced parallel rows in a case `with each binder located at individual ones of a like plurality of separate stepped-back positions or levels in such manner that their looseleaf sheets extend therefrom in substantially fiat horizontal disposition.

The present invention relates generally to the art of looseleaf ring binders and more particularly to a consolemounted looseleaf ring binder assembly having a plurality of horizontally arranged looseleaf ring binders disposed at separate levels therein.

In'the plural looseleaf ring binder assemblies, particularly those of the type which are console-mounted and which contain reference data to which the user thereof should have quick and ready access, it is desirable that the looseleaf sheets of the binders be readily accessible and that they be free from distortion and retain their original flat shape during repeated use thereof.

This is not possible in the present type of plural looseleaf ring binder assemblies wherein the individual binders are disposed at a common level for the reason that the looseleaf sheets of each ring binder overlie the rings of the adjacent binders and are raised up hereby to cause the sheets to assume a curved conguration lwhich not only makes it more difficult to read the tabs and the data thereon but also, in time, can cause permanent deformation of the looseleaf sheets.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a console-mounted type of plural looseleaf ring binder assembly wherein individual ring binders are disposed so that their looseleaf sheets are free and remain free from distortion and are, at all times, readily accessible to the user of the binder assembly.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a console-mounted type of plural looseleaf ring binder assembly wherein the said assembly has a case within which the plurality of looseleaf binders are disposed in evenly spaced rows with each Ibinder being located at a separate one of a like plurality of stepped-back levels or positions whereby the looseleaf sheets of each of the binders are arranged to extend horizontally therefrom without distortion lfrom the rings of adjacent binders.

With the above and other objects of the present invention in view as will readily be apparent from the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof as shown in the accompanying drawings, the present invention resides in the novel elements of construction and arrangement of parts in cooperative relationship as hereinafter particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of the plural level looseleaf ring binder assembly of the present invention in opened-position showing the split rings of the upper level binder and showing the looseleaf reference data and tab sheets or pages of all the binders at all levels thereof arranged in flat stepped disposition;

3,618,241 Patented Nov. 9, 1971 FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional View of the binder assembly shown in FIG. 1 as taken along the lines 2-2 thereof sho-wing the binders horizontally disposed at tive levels on a sloping base portion of the assembly;

FIG. 3 is a top plan View of the binder assembly shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 with the reference data and tab sheets or pages partly broken away;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan View of the binder assembly shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the binder assembly shown in FIG. l, the assembly Ibeing illustrated in position atop the forwardly sloping surface of the console upon which it is mounted when in use; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional View of the base of the binder assembly shown in FIG. 5 as taken along the lines 6 6 thereof.

The console-mounted plural level looseleaf binder assembly of the present invention shown in FIGS. l through 6 of the drawings generally comprises a rectangularly Shaped open case having a lbottom, side and rear walls within Iwhich there is a slanted base upon which a plurality of horizontally arranged looseleaf binders Vare disposed at a like plurality of positions or levels in spaced parallel relation crosswise of said case, the case rbeing provided with a swing-open top for a portion thereof and also being provided, on its undersurface, with a console protecting layer of resilient rubber-like composition.

As illustrated in the drawings, the open case comprises a bottom 10, right and left side walls 11 and 12 respectively and a rear `wall 13, the said case having a canted or slanted base 14 disposed therein between the side walls 11 and I12 and extending yfrom the bottom 1f)` to the upper end of the rear wall 13, the said case also having a swingopen top 15 hingedly secured to the upper ends of the rear wall 13 and of the base 14. The bottom 10, side walls 11 and 12, rear Wall 13 and a rearwardly extending horizontal lip 13a, formed at the upper end of rear wall 13, may be made of a single piece of suitably shaped and folded sheet metal. The cante-d base 14 haw/ing a rearwardly extending horizontal lip 14a formed at the upper end of base 14 (and overlying lip 113:1) and a forwardly extending horizontal lip 14b formed at the lower end of base 14 (and overlying bottom 10) may also be made of a single piece of suitably shaped and folded sheet metal. The top 15 and a right angled extension 15a of its lower edge may likewise also be made of a single piece of suitably shaped and folded sheet metal.

The top 15 is hingedly secured to the overlying lips 13a and 14a by means of a suitable length of a metal piano type hinge 16 one plate 16a of which is suitably secured to the inner side extension 15a of the top 15 while the other plate 1617 of the hinge 16 is suitably secured, as by rivets, to the lips 13a and 14a, the extension 15a thus being between the hinge plates 16a and 1'6b when the top 15 is in its opened position of FIG. 2. The hinge plate 16b is provided with a rear upwardly extension 16C which serves as a stop for the top 15 to limit the raising thereof so that it assumes the substantially vertical position shown in FIGS. l and 2, the so raised top acting as a stop to limit the upward movement of the looseleaf sheets or pages disposed in the binders, as appears in said FIGS. l and 2.

A right angled piece of sheet metal 17 having longer face 17a and shorter face 17b is positioned crosswise of the bottom 10 at its juncture with the rear wall 13 in such manner that the face 17a overlies and is suitably secured to the rear wall 13 while the edge of the face 17h underlies the bottom 10 in contact therewith. The piece 17 thus provides a V-sh'aped projection extending downwardly of and across the bottom 10` at the rear thereof, for a purpose to be set forth.

A lchannel shaped piece of sheet metal 18 having a shorter side 18a and longer side 1i8b is positioned on the outer surface of side wall 11 with its side 18h in contact with and suitably secured to the said side wall, the member 18 sloping from a point on the bottom 10 just forward of the projection 17 to the upper end of the rear wall 13, for a purpose to be set forth.

Disposed upon the upper side of the bottom and suitably secured thereto are a pair of overlying rectangularly shaped plates of sheet metal 19 and 20 of common width and of unequal length, the forward ends 19a and 20a of said plates commonly terminating `along a line short of the front end 10a of bottom 10 while the rear end 19b of plate 19 terminates short of the front end of lip 14h of the slant base 14 and the plate 20 terminates atop the said end 14b.

lPositioned at a plurality of levels upon and suitably secured to, as by the use of rivets, the upper side of the slant base 14 is a like plurality, here shown as five in number, of split ring looseleaf binders 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 of customary construction. The binders, of a length to extend across the base 14, are horizontally arranged in evenly spaced parallel rows with the lowermost level binder 25 being nearest the front end of the binder assembly and with the other level binders 24, 23, 22 and 21 being progressively further away from the said front end of the assembly. While each binder is shown as having five rings, it will be understood that the number thereof may vary.

While the looseleaf sheets or pages contained in the binders 21-25 may contain any desired type of reference or other data, it is preferred, since the assembly of the present invention is primarily intended for use by telephone rate operators, that data and sheet disposition, signiticant to such use, be shown in the drawings. Accordingly, two types of looseleaf sheets are shown in each of the binders, the first, indicated at 26, being separating sheets having staggered tabs at their front ends upon which the various telephone area codes, 212, 213, 215, etc., are indicated While the second, which are shorter than the first and are indicated at 27, are rate sheets several of which may be interposed between adjacent tab sheets, the rate sheets containing the schedules relating to the individual telephone exchanges in the individual code areas.

As shown here, each binder has ten separating tab sheets 26 therein with the upper ve sheets being shorter than the lower tive thereof by the length of a tab so that the tabs of the lower ve sheets may extend beyond the tabs of the upper tive sheets for clear viewing of all of o said tabs. The tabs are of a width so that five thereof, of the lower and of the upper tive sheets thereof respectively, together extend across the full width of the tab sheets. The horizontal distance between successive binders 21-25 is such that the tabs of the separating sheets of each of the successively lower level binders extend further outwardly or forwardly than do the tabs of the separating sheets of each of the successively higher level binders, so that the tabs of the separating sheets of all of the binders are clearly visible. As clearly appears in the drawings, the present slanted mounting arrangement of the binders 21- 25 at a plurality of levels is such that the sheets 26 and 27 of the binders are caused to lie in substantially flat horizontal planes free of any distortion and unaffected by the presence thereunder of the split rings of the several binders.

While the present arrangement provides for a total of one hundred tabs, it should be noted that the number of the spaced binders may vary, that the number of the tab separating sheets in each binder may vary and that the number of tabs on each separating sheet may also vary to provide any desired number of tabs within the assembly. It should also be noted that the aligned front ends 19a and 20a of the plates 19 and 20 terminate along a line which is disposed under the lowermost row of tabs Lat() of the separating sheets in the binder 25, see FIG. 3, whereby the said tabs are spaced from the bottom 10. by the thickness of plates 19 and 20 to facilitate the raising thereof. It may be noted further that the right hand side wall 11 of the assembly case is cut away along the lines 11a and 11b to reduce its height below that of the level of the left hand side wall 12, for a purpose to be set forth.

The undersurfaces of the bottom 10, the projection 17, the rear wall 13 and the lip 13a are fully covered with a layer of a rubber-like resilient material, indicated at 28, in order to protect the surface of the console upon which the binder assembly is mounted. Additionally, the otherwise exposed surface of the lip 15a of the top 15 is also covered with the same rubber-like material 28 in order to dampen the noise which would otherwise be made when the top 15 is ipped by hand to its opened position as in FIG. 5 wherein the top 15 is moved from its full line to its dotted line position, as indicated by the arrow.

In use, the binder assembly of the present invention is mounted upon the downwardly sloping surface, indicated at 29, 29 in FIG. 5, of the telephone operators console, the said surface being provided with a suitably positioned V-shaped groove of suitable dimensions to receive therein the V-shaped projection 17 of the present binder assembly whereby the latter is desirably positioned upon the console in fixed relation thereto. With the console so mounted, the channel shaped member 18 is positioned over an end of the V-shaped groove in the console and thus provides a measure of protection therefore to keep unwanted objects from being placed or falling into the said groove. The binder assembly is mounted upon the console to the left of the operator using the same, so that the cutting away of the side wall 11 along the lines 11a and 11b provides for greater accessibility of the top 15 and of the sheets 26 and 27 to the operator who may readily iiip the same upwardly and downwardly as required, the sides of the sheets 26 and 27 and the top 15 being exposed as an aid thereto.

It will be understood that the present invention as shown and described is susceptible of various changes and modiications which may be made from time to time without departing from the real spirit or general principles thereof and accordingly it is intended to claim the same broadly, as well as specifically, as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A looseleaf binder assembly for engaging record cards in a manner whereby portions of some of the cards are progressively displaced out of alignment to provide them with visible margins, comprising a horizontally disposed base, a pair of vertical side walls connected to said base, a back panel, an inclined looseleaf record card holder panel secured to and between said base and said back panel, a horizontally disposed terminal end portion integral with the lower end of said inclined panel and adapted to overlie a portion of said base, a plurality of rows of horizontally aligned looseleaf binder elements in stepped vertically spaced relationship xedly secured to said inclined panel whereby groups of record cards of substantially equal length can rest substantially parallel to said base with their edges visibly exposed a distance equal to the progressive rearward spacing of said rows of binder elements, and a cover panel hinged between said side walls adjacent said back panel and adapted to partially overlie record cards but not to conceal their visible edges, and stop means extending rearwardly from the upper edge of said back panel for holding said cover in a substantially vertical open position to thereby support the cards with their free edges spaced apart when said cards are upwardly disposed. Y

2. A looseleaf binder assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein said cover panel is operative, when swung into its said card overlying position to simultaneously swing back into the casing all of the cards which were upwardly swung against and supported by said cover panel while in said open position.

3. A looseleaf binder assembly as dened in claim 1 wherein the main body portion of said cover panel is offset relatively to its hinge to provide a clearance between said cover panel and the top-most row of said binder elements when said cover panel is swung into its position as a cover for the cards in said casing.

4. A looseleaf binder assembly as defined in claim 1 wherein the main body portion of said cover panel is provided at its hinged end with an angularly related ange adapted for flat-wise engagement with said stop means to limit outward movement of said cover panel about its hinge and hold the same in its said open position.

5. A looseleaf binder assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said case is provided with a V-shaped mounting projection extending downwardly from the said lbottom of said case, the said projection extending from side to side of said bottom.

6. A looseleaf binder assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least one of said casing side Walls is of such reduced depth as to maximally expose to view the portions of the looseleaf record cards which are immediately adjacent said one of said side walls.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 588,636 8/1897 Engstrom 281-33 X 1,360,574 11/ 1920 Phillips 40-104.07 2,147,773 2/ 1939 Larson 40-1043 2,178,457 10/1939 Rand et al 40-104.13 2,584,854 2/1952 Emmer 281-16 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,303 3/1880 Great Britain l0-104.03 807,624 7/1949 Germany 283-42 ROBERT W. MICHELL, Primary Examiner L. R. OREMLAND, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 281-33 

